


Waiting for the question

by exclamation



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, Miscommunication, One Shot, Therapy, proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-08
Updated: 2017-07-08
Packaged: 2018-11-29 11:17:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11439744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/exclamation/pseuds/exclamation
Summary: Derek has noticed signs that Stiles is thinking about marriage and he starts waiting for a proposal, but for some reason Stiles never asks him.





	Waiting for the question

The first time Derek thought Stiles might be thinking of marriage was when he glanced towards the window of a jeweller's as they walked past and his eyes lingered on the display of engagement rings enough that his head turned a little. It was such a tiny movement, but Derek noticed and a warm glow filled his stomach at the thought that Stiles might want this to be forever. Not so long ago, Derek might not have believed that, might have worried that he wasn't good enough for Stiles, but now it filled him with joy and he smiled as he walked. 

The next time came in the waiting room of their therapist's office, waiting for their monthly joint session. Stiles was impatient and fidgety, as he so often was when he was told to sit around and wait. He played with his phone and paced the little waiting room and then picked up one of the magazines to flick through it. Derek saw that Stiles had reached for a wedding magazine and his heart skipped a beat as he watched Stiles turn the pages, glancing at all the pictures but not really reading any of the articles. What made this moment more significant was that there had been an electronics magazine on top of the pile and Stiles had reached under it to get the wedding one. Derek wasn't sure if this was conscious planning on Stiles' part, or just idle thoughts, but the fact that it had happened twice was a good sign, and their therapist noted that Derek seemed more relaxed than usual during their session. 

After that, it became obvious that this wasn't just a passing thought for Stiles. Derek found a browser tab left open to a wedding inspiration page. When Derek started typing into Google, "most romantic proposals" showed up in the recent searches. Stiles even started asking Derek questions about his ideal vacation, ostensibly planning a trip for the two of them just because, but Derek could help thinking that Stiles was getting their honeymoon all planned out. 

So Derek waited, excited and nervous and more happy than he'd been in more than a decade, eagerly awaiting the moment when Stiles proposed. 

He half-expected Stiles to just blurt it out in the supermarket or during some other mundane task, because this was Stiles and impulsiveness was practically his middle name. The longer that didn't happen, the more Derek became sure that Stiles had something special planned. He was going to make this romantic enough to get included on those websites Stiles had been reading. 

Derek was sure the moment had come when Stiles suggested that maybe they go out to dinner at a nice restaurant. It wasn't their usual sort of restaurant, being the sort of place that didn't allow jeans and sneakers, and so Derek agreed instantly, knowing that Stiles probably wanted to make this special. So they brought suits out of storage and Stiles made comments about needing a new suit tailored that might have been interpreted as being just a response to the fact that his shoulders were broader now than they used to be, but which also might have been a thought about the need to look smart for a wedding. 

Derek smiled fondly at Stiles as they finished getting dressed, and was still smiling when they were waiting for their table. 

"You look disconcerting when you smile," Stiles commented. 

"Sorry," Derek said. 

"No. Don't apologise. Sorry. I didn't mean that to sound like a criticism. I'm just not used to it. It's good though. Keep smiling." Stiles offered him a nervous smile and so Derek did smile back. 

Then it was time to go to their table, and they had a very pleasant date, including laughing at Stiles' inability to pronounce half the menu options and the fact that the restaurant clearly thought that using French terms instantly made food better. The whole meal, Derek kept looking at Stiles, smiling, and waiting for the moment, waiting for the question. 

When they ordered desserts, Derek thought there might be a ring on his cake or something like that, but nothing happened. They ate their delicious desserts and the question never came. 

The question didn't come on their next couple of dates either, despite Derek noticing more browser tabs and search histories on the subject of proposals. Derek's eager excitement was shifting to anxiety. Was Stiles not going to ask him? Was he having second thoughts? What was taking so long? Stiles had never been known for this patience, but it had been weeks since Derek had first noticed that Stiles was considering it. If he was waiting for a romantic moment, he'd had plenty of opportunity. 

As they were walking back to the car after their romantic, moonlit stroll along a beach, Stiles started to look down-hearted. He'd had rather a lot of champagne earlier, and Derek had assumed that had been to build up his nerves, but the question still hadn't come. He wavered a little and Derek put an arm around him to steady him, but that didn't seem to cheer him up at all. Derek started to worry that something was wrong, that there was a reason Stiles wasn't asking and it couldn't be good. 

It was as Derek was bundling Stiles into the passenger seat that Stiles asked, "Why don't you want to marry me?" 

Derek almost laughed. This was not how he'd expected Stiles to pop the question. 

"You haven't even asked me yet," Derek pointed out. "I can hardly say yes if you don't ask me." He smiled, tried to make it teasing. Stiles just blinked at him in slightly drunk confusion. 

"You think I should ask you?" Stiles said. 

"Isn't that why you've been insisting on these romantic dinners and walks on the beach?" 

Derek reached out and placed his hand over Stiles'. He was crouching in the doorway of the car, which was not the most comfortable of positions, but he didn't want to stand up and walk round to the other side of the car because Stiles was acting really weird and Derek didn't want to walk away from him even for the minute it would take to get into the driver's seat. Stiles looked like he was about to start crying. 

"I was trying to drop hints that you should propose," Stiles said. 

Derek almost started laughing. Only the fact that Stiles was clearly upset kept him from doing so. 

"So you looking at engagement rings and reading internet pages about the world's most romantic proposals was you trying to drop hints?" 

Stiles nodded. "I kept waiting for you to make a move." 

"I was waiting for you to propose," Derek said. "I wasn't going to steal your thunder by proposing when you were clearly planning something special." 

That was the moment Stiles started laughing, making Derek relax a little. He leaned his head back against the car seat, laughing at his stupidity. 

"I just thought you were being denser than usual," he said. 

"I thought you were being uncharacteristically patient," Derek said. 

Stiles laughed again. 

"Why didn't you ask me?" Derek asked. "Why were you dropping hints instead of just coming out and saying it?" 

"Because you wanted to set the speed for the relationship," Stiles answered. 

It took Derek a moment to work out what he was talking about, but then he remembered a conversation a long time ago, sitting together on the couch in their therapist’s office. Derek had talked about Kate and Jennifer, explaining the history as much as he could to someone who wasn't involved in the supernatural. Stiles already knew the facts of those events, but Derek had admitted to sometimes feeling their hands on him or hearing their voices in his memory. He'd explained his need to control how fast or how far things went with Stiles because he needed to be able to back off if the memories intruded on the present. 

"I was talking about the physical side of things," Derek said, "about sex. I didn't mean that I should control how our relationship develops for the rest of time." 

"Oh," Stiles said. He looked a little embarrassed now. "I guess we haven't done as well at the listening thing as I thought we had." 

Derek straightened up from his crouch and pressed a kiss to Stiles' cheek. 

"I love you," he said. "I'm glad you wanted to make sure I was comfortable with this." 

"So," Stiles said, "does this mean we're engaged now?" 

"You still haven't asked me." 

Stiles looked Derek squarely in the eye and asked, "Derek Hale, will you marry me?" 

"Yes." 

They kissed, both still laughing a little at their foolishness. 

It was in the car on the drive home that Stiles said, "If anyone asks, I proposed on the beach surrounded by white roses and it was so romantic it made you cry." 

"No. If anyone asks, you proposed randomly while we were arguing about breakfast cereal." 

"We'll tell both stories and see which one people believe." 

"They'll believe mine," Derek said. 

Stiles thought about it. "Yeah, you're probably right. So... Ring shopping tomorrow?"

**Author's Note:**

> For whatever random fandom stuff has caught my interest this week, come [follow me on Tumblr](http://jessicameats.tumblr.com). For more about my writing, [check out my blog](http://plot-twister.co.uk).


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